Throttle control for a plurality of engines



Sept. 5, 1950 M. MALLORY 2,521,299

THROTTLE CONTROL FOR A PLURALITY 0F ENGINES Filed March 1, 1945' FIG: 1.

. INVENTOR. Mar/0n M'aflofy Patented Sept. 5, 1950 UNITED THROTTLECONTROL FOR A PLURALITY OF ENGINES Marion Mallory, Detroit, Mich.

Application March 1, 1945, Serial No. 580,449

Claims. (01. 6097) engines of the radial type I, 2, 3 each having anintake passageway 4. The governor for each engine comprises a throttlevalve 5 of the butterfly type mounted on valve shaft 6, crank arm Ifixed on shaft 6, rod 8 between arm I and flexible diaphragm 9, suctionchamber In connected by conduit II with orifice l2 on the engine side ofvalve 5 and. by conduit I3 with orifice l4 on the atmosphere side ofvalve 5, compression spring 5, air bleed conduit l6 connected toconduits H and 3 by branch conduits l1 and I8, metering pin H) formetering and completely closing ofi air flow through line Hi, link 20connecting valve IS with throttle lever 2|, shaft 22 upon which throttlelever 2| is mounted, tension spring 23 tending to close valve IS.

The air bleed control comprises a valve housing 24 fixed on an enginedriven shaft 25, such as the distributor shaft, bearing 25 for shaft 25,circumferential groove 21, axial bore 28 in shaft 25, port 29 connectinggroove 21 and passageway 28, centrifugally unbalanced valve body 30,tension spring 3|, screw 32 for adjusting the tension of spring 3|,longitudinal grooves 33 in valve body 30, valve 34, air bleed port 35preferably to atmosphere. i

The operation of my speed control mechanism is as follows: It isunderstood that there is but one centrifugally unbalanced valvearrangement for controlling the air bleed and only one manual throttlevalve I9 regardless of the number of engines controlled. As herein used,the term manual operation includes both hand or foot operation orcontrol.

Assuming th engines I, 2, 3 are started with manually controlledthrottle valve I9 in idle position, that is, nearly closed. At idlespeed centrifugally unbalanced valve 34 will be wide open, but sincevalve I9 is in idle position, suction chambers 0 in the suction devicefor each engine will be only slightly air bled. Therefore, the sucticnsin chambers III will act through diaphragms 9 to close governor valves 5to idle position. All of the engines will idle under such conditions. Ifthrottle valve I9 is now opened wide, each suction device will be airbled through port 35, grooves 33, passageways 28, 29, l6, l1, l8 andsprings l5 will act through diaphragms 9, rods 8 and cranks I to swinggovernor valves 5 to wide open position. The engines will nowaccelerate. Shaft 25 (which can be run off of any one of the governedengines) and valve housing 24 will correspondingly increase their speeduntil the centrifugal force acting on valve 30, 34 will overcome thetension of spring 3| and the suction obtaining in the valve housing inback of the valve until valve 34 momentarily closes air bleed orifice35. The velocity by ports l4 and I2 will cause a vacuum to build up insuction chambers l0 thereby causing the diaphragms 9 to swing governorvalves 5 toward closed position to admit only suficient charge to eachengine to operate it at its governed speed under the then obtainingload. Valve 34 actually stays closed only momentarily and meters the airflow through air bleed port 35 in accordance with the load conditions onthe engines so that the suction device will control throttle valves 5 tomaintain the engine speed under varying loadconditions.

'If it is desired to operate all of the engines at a speed less thantheir governed speed, then throttle lever 2| is actuatedcounterclockwise'to permit spring 23 to close metering pin or throttlevalve l9 to partially close air bleed line |6 to whatever extentnecessary to cause the suction devices to actuate valves 5 to throttlethe engines down to the speed desired. Thus, by controlling valve l9 oneis able to simultaneously and automatically throttle all of the enginesdown to the same desired speed. If while metering valve I9 is partiallyclosed, the loads on the engines should be decreased, then the engineswill be prevented from overspeeding because centrifugally unbalanced airbleed valve 34 will momentarily close and take over the governing of theengine as soon as the engines reach their governed speed. Thus, it isevident from the above that I have provided a simple arrangement foreither manually or automatically, or both automatically and manually,controlling the speed of a plurality of engines from a point which, ifdesired, can be remote from the engine and which arrangement is simpleand efficient.

Since my throttle control system uses air as the actuating fluid, itwill operate eificiently regardless of atmospheric temperatures. Thisfeature is important in governing aircraft engines which must operate inthe high temperatures of the tropics as well as the extremely lowtemperatures encountered at high altitudes and in winter in the northernlatitudes.

I claim:

1. In combination with a plurality of internal combustion engines eachhaving an intake passageway, a throttle valve in each intake passageway,each engine having a separate means responsive to the pressuresobtaining in the intake passagewa of its respective engine for actuatingthe throttle valve of said engine to control the flow of motive fluid tosaid engine, Speed controlled fluid bleed mechanism for all of saidpressure responsive means, said speed controlled fluid bleed mechanismbeing responsiveto the speed of one of said engines and tending toclose,

actuates its-respective throttle valve to control the speeds of all saidengines at their governed speeds, a manually operated metering valve forcontrolling the fluid bleed to said pressure responsive means wherebyall the saidrrneans respond to their respective intak passagewapressures to control the engines at a desired speed less than thegoverned speed.

2. In combination with a plurality of internal combustion engines eachhaving an intake passageway, a throttle valve in each intake passageway,a suction device for each engineand con nected into the intakepassageway for its re? spective engine, a connection between the suction device and the throttle valve for each engine, thesuction'devicefor each engine-being responsiveto pressures in itsrespective intake passage, way ,for actuating its respective throttlevalve to control the flow of motive fluid to its respective engine,speed controlled fluid bleed mechanism for bleeding said suction devicescontrolled in accordance with the speed of one of said engines andtending to close when said engine reaches its governed speed wherebyeach suction device re- Spends to its respective intake passagewa pres-.sure and the throttle valves are actuated to con- Mimi the speeds ofthe" engines at thei governed speed, and a manually controlled meteringvalve for controlling the fluid bleed to said suction devices wherebythe suction devices respond to their respective intake passagewaypressures to control-the engines at a speed less than the governedspeed. i

3. In combination with a plurality of internal combustion engines eachhaving an intakepassageway and a throttle valve in each intakepassageway, mechanism for simultaneously controlling all of the enginesat substantially the same speed, comprisin a suction device for eachengine responsive to the intake passageway pressures for its respectiveengine for actuating the throttle valve to control the flow of motivefluid to its respective engine, a common speed controlled fluid bleedmechanism for simultaneously bleeding all of said suction devices, saidspeed controlled fluid bleed mechanism being responsive to the speed ofone of said engines and tending to close when the said engine reachesits governed speed whereby the suction devices for all said enginesrespond to their respective intake passageway pressures and actuatetheir respective throttles to control the speeds of the engines at theirgoverned speed.

4. In combination with a plurality of internal combustion engines eachhaving an intake passageway and a throttle valve in each intakepassageway, mechanism for simultaneously contrOlling all of the enginesat substantially the same speed, comprising a suction device for eachengine responsive to the intake passageway pressures on the engine sideof its respective throttle valve for its respective engine for actuatingthe throttle valve to control the flow of motive fluid to its respectiveengine, conduits connecting each of said suction devices to a common airbleed orifice, a centrifugally unbalanced valve controlling said orificein accordance with the speed of one of said engines and tending to closesaid air bleed orifice when the said engine reaches its governed speedwhereby the suction devices for all said engines respond to theirrespective intake assageway pressures and actuate the throttle valves tocontrol the Speed of the engines at their governed speed.

5. In combination with a plurality of internal combustion engines eachhaving an intake passageway, a throttle valve in each intake passageway,a suction device for each engine and connected into the intakepassageway for its respective engine, a connection between the suctiondevice and the throttle valve for each engine, the suction device foreach engine being responsive to pressures in itsrespective intakepassageway for actuating itsrespective throttle valve to control theflow of motive fluid to its respective engine, a cylinder rotated inaccordance with the speed of one of the said engines and having an airbleed orifice, a reciprocating valve in said cylinder for controllingsaid air bleed orifice, said valve being centrifugally unbalanced anditself constituting the centrifugal weight, conduits connecting thecylinder with said suction devices, said centrifugally unbalanced valvetending to close said air bleed orifice at the governed speed of thesaid engine whereby each suction device responds to its respectiveintake passageway pressure and the throttle valves are actuated to control the speeds of the engines at their governed speed.

MARION MALLORY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record 'in' the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,065,909 Rockwell Dec. 29, 19362,148,305 Sanford Feb. 21, 1939 2,362,655, Mallory Nov. 14, 1944

